Congress

Capitol agenda: Senators take aim at Trump’s rescissions

Published

12 months ago

July 9, 2025

Senate GOP leaders are scrambling to shore up the votes for the White House’s $9.4 billion request to claw back funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.

It’s dangerously close to the July 18 deadline that will render Trump’s rescissions package expired for good if Congress doesn’t act. But Senate Republicans are seeking tweaks to minimize the bill’s cuts to AIDS prevention efforts around the world and valued local broadcasters back home.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune can lose no more than three GOP senators if he wants to get the White House request across the finish line. According to him, it’s still TBD what the bill will look like when and if it gets through the chamber.

“We’ll see where it goes,” Thune told reporters Tuesday, adding that he doesn’t have a hard vote count yet. Thune is assuming Republicans will at least be able to gather the necessary 51 votes to begin debate on the package while leaders continue to whip support.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (Maine) is among the Republicans seeking to amend the package, but she refused to elaborate on how much of the $9.4 billion she is aiming to protect: “I have already made clear I don’t support the cuts to PEPFAR and child and maternal health,” Collins said Tuesday night.

Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on Tuesday both said they want amendments to protect public radio stations for Native American reservations and rural Alaskans, respectively.

“Whatever form it takes, we can’t lose these small-town radio stations across the country that are literally the only way to get out an emergency message,” Rounds told reporters.

Complicating efforts to change the package: Any amendment would have to be narrowly tailored to comply with germaneness rules. The parliamentarian is involved, guiding senators on what tweaks will be allowed.

Should the parliamentarian allow changes, Collins & Co. might find support from other Republicans. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said he’s keeping his options open until he sees what the chamber’s rulekeeper will allow. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he currently “lean[s] yes” on the package but said some Republicans have made persuasive arguments in favor of protecting PEPFAR.

Other Republicans can’t understand their colleagues’ objections.

“After all the tough talk by Republicans in the Senate about the need to reduce spending, if we can’t agree to reduce $9 billion worth of spending porn, then we all ought to go buy paper bags and put them over our heads,” Sen. John Kennedy (La.) told reporters Tuesday.

What else we’re watching:

Russia sanctions pending: Expect developments later this week from Thune on when the chamber could take up a bipartisan bill to impose new sanctions on Russia. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters the president is on board with a punishing new package as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to resist peace talks in Ukraine.

Biden doc to testify: Kevin O’Connor, who served as former President Joe Biden’s physician, is testifying before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday as part of its probe into Biden’s mental acuity while in office. The Trump White House waived executive privilege for O’Connor ahead of his interview, meaning he won’t be able to invoke that reason to avoid answering questions.

New megabill talks heat up: Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined House GOP leaders in saying that he wants a second reconciliation bill this fall. He believes policies were left on the table from the first package, although declined to disclose specifics. House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said he believes GOP leaders should try to revive provisions cut from the first megabill due to the Byrd rule.

Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

Congress

Bill Gates denied association with Epstein’s crimes in closed-door Hill interview

Published

1 hour ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Tech mogul Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein’s prior sex crime conviction but that he did not know Epstein was continuing to engage in misconduct at the time of their acquaintance, according to a transcript of his testimony.

In his transcribed interview with the panel earlier this month as part of its ongoing Epstein investigation, Gates recounted details of his dealings with Epstein over the years — which extended from 2011, when he was first introduced to Epstein, to 2014, when he realized Epstein would not make good on his promise to steer donors towards Gates’ philanthropic work.

“I was aware that he had a criminal conviction,” Gates said, according to the transcript. “I knew that it was of a sexual nature, but, no, I don’t think I … dug into the specifics, although I probably should have.”

Gates’ decision to shrug off the conviction from 2008 underscored the extent to which many of those who chose to associate with the disgraced financier opted to ignore potential warning signs of impropriety. It was not until more than a decade after his first brush with law enforcement that Epstein was arrested on federal sex crimes charges; he died by suicide in jail in 2019 while his case was pending.

Gates’ relationship with Epstein has drawn new scrutiny since materials released by the Justice Department revealed new details about their relationship. In one draft correspondence contained in the so-called Epstein files, Epstein appears to have written and sent to himself a letter to Gates, where he alleged that Gates asked Epstein to “delete the emails regarding [his] std” and give him antibiotics to “surreptitiously give to Melinda [French Gates].”

Gates has denied that allegation and, during his interview with the Oversight Committee, Gates questioned whether Epstein was attempting to blackmail him.

“Now that I see the January release of documents, it appears that in many cases he, at least in emails to himself, was sort of rehearsing how either he or he coaching someone else might choose to blackmail me, but none of those messages were ever sent to me,” Gates said. “You know, I never paid Jeffrey Epstein anything.”

He also said that Epstein “certainly wasn’t a friend,” and insisted he never engaged in sexual conduct or received massages from individuals introduced to him by Epstein. And despite knowledge of his 2008 conviction, Gates said he was unaware at the time of their relationship that Epstein was a registered sex offender. He also said he never visited Epstein’s island.

The Oversight Committee also on Tuesday released a transcript of its June interview with Lesley Groff, one of Epstein’s former assistants who was among those named as a potential co-conspirator as part of Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement in 2007. She was never charged with any wrongdoing and, according to the transcript, recalled that law enforcement’s decision came as a surprise.

“I am not a conspirator, and I never would have agreed to this language,” she said, according to the transcript. “Their unilateral decision to label me as a potential conspirator remains my scarlet letter.”

Like others who have come before the panel, Groff claimed she was unaware of his crimes during the time of her employment and that Epstein, following his 2008 conviction, said that he was “set up.” Groff said she believed him, so she continued to work for him.

“I also saw the same VIPs continue to surround Epstein after his conviction,” she explained as a rationale for maintaining her own ties.

For instance, Groff told the Oversight Committee she “would connect phone calls” between President Donald Trump and Epstein multiple times a year.

Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing tied to Epstein, but his relationship with the financier has raised eyebrows while fueling speculation that the administration has been working to cover up its connections — including by pushing back against making the Epstein files public last year and then slow-walking their release.

The Justice Department has defended its handling of the files’ release, and Trump has maintained he broke off his relationship with Epstein years before his death.

Congress

Senate votes to halt Iran war despite Trump’s push for peace deal

Published

3 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate on Tuesday voted to cut off the U.S. military campaign against Iran, handing a fresh loss to President Donald Trump despite his attempts to convince lawmakers and the public that a deal to end the war is at hand.

Four Republicans broke ranks to help approve a resolution to block further military action unless it is green-lighted by Congress.

The war powers measure is largely symbolic — the resolution cleared Tuesday doesn’t go to the president to sign or veto. But the bipartisan 50-48 vote is a damaging milestone for the Trump administration: Both the Senate and House have now weighed in against the Middle East conflict that’s stretched on for more than 100 days. The same measure passed the House in early June after months of close calls.

Congress

Housing bill threatened in GOP elections-bill spat

Published

4 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The long-anticipated bipartisan housing bill is under threat from a Florida Republican who threatened to “shut the floor down” if House GOP leaders move forward with passing it Tuesday.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said Republicans instead need to prioritize passage of the SAVE America Act, the GOP elections bill that has been stuck in the Senate for months. Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled a Tuesday evening vote on the housing bill in hopes of sending it to President Donald Trump for a planned Wednesday signing at the White House.

Luna posted her threat on social media Tuesday afternoon and later specified in an interview that she would oppose procedural measures teeing up GOP-backed legislation going forward if party leaders didn’t abandon their plans to hold the housing bill vote via special fast-track procedures that would effectively sideline Republican hard-liners.

Luna cannot single-handedly block those procedural votes, but she said there is “a group” of lawmakers who would join her. She separately called on Trump to veto the housing bill in a bid to force the SAVE America Act to be added to it.

Johnson plans for now to proceed with the Tuesday evening vote on the housing bill, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. If Luna and her unnamed allies follow through with their threats, they could derail a pair of appropriations bills set for House consideration this week and potentially freeze the floor indefinitely given the GOP’s razor-thin majority.

“I have been telling them,” Luna said of her complaints to GOP leaders.